As a family that believes in the Night Goddess, the Lex family's backyard was planted with moonflowers, so he was not unfamiliar with this scent, but he searched the cottage and didn't see a single moonflower.
Harribel, on the other hand, discovered other problems.
"Look here." The girl pointed to a round wooden table, one of its legs was wobbly.
On the table were two cups, and on a small plate next to them were three muffins. One of the muffins had only a bite taken out of it and was casually placed on the edge of the plate.
Lex narrowed his eyes slightly: "Two cups indicate that a guest has been here. The muffin hasn't been finished and hasn't been put away, which means Ailiya's mother left in a hurry with the guest at the time."
"I checked the house, there were no signs of a struggle, and the windows were not damaged. Combining this with the current situation, Ailiya's mother was not forcibly abducted, but left willingly and voluntarily with someone."
"Now the question is, who could this guest be?"
Harribel gathered her beautiful hair and tucked it into her baseball cap. The girl walked towards the wall: "Her neighbor should know."
The two once again passed through the blurry, ethereal blue door and entered the place. The energetic Harribel quickly knocked on the neighbor's door.
The door opened, revealing a sallow-skinned woman inside. Her hands were covered in water droplets, and the hem of her skirt was damp, making it seem like she was doing laundry.
Harribel cleared her throat and said, "Hello, do you know Mrs. Gwyneth?"
Gwyneth was Ailiya's mother.
The sallow-skinned woman responded coldly, "No, I don't."
Then she slammed the door shut.
Harribel said angrily, "How could she be like that!"
Lex said with a smile, "Let me handle it, communication requires skill."
He took out his wallet, pulled out a one-pound banknote, and knocked on the door again.
The woman impatiently opened the door: "I'm working, please don't disturb me, otherwise, I'll have to call the police!"
Lex slipped the banknote into her hand and pressed down on his top hat: "It won't take up much of your time, Madam."
Looking at the money in her hand, the woman was stunned for a moment, then said, "What do you want to know?"
Just as Lex was about to speak, he was pushed aside by Harribel. The girl pointed to the house next door and said, "Has Mrs. Gwyneth had any guests?"
The woman poked her head out of the doorway and glanced in the direction the girl pointed: "Gwyneth hardly has any friends. She's always alone at home; only her daughter comes to visit her for a day or two each month."
"However, some time ago, someone did come to visit her. It was an Old Lady, I don't know her name. But I do know that she often gives speeches in Memorial Square."
An Old Lady who gives speeches in Memorial Square? Old Lady Paris's eerie face immediately appeared in Lex's mind. Did that woman visit Ailiya's mother?
"Let's go to Memorial Square and see."
At Memorial Square, they indeed saw the Old Lady named Paris again. She was still giving a speech today, surrounded by a crowd of people, mostly workers and vagrants.
It was unclear what Paris was saying, but the onlookers occasionally agreed and burst into applause, causing passersby to cast strange glances.
Lex took off his top hat and coat, handing them and his cane to Harribel. Standing with the workers like this would make him less conspicuous.
"You wait here."
He went alone into the crowd, lowering his head and squeezing in, appearing behind Paris.
His nose twitched, and Lex smelled the scent of moonflowers again. It came from Paris, and the scent was quite strong.
This Old Lady is problematic.
Seeing that Paris seemed unlikely to finish her speech anytime soon, Lex led his sister to a corner of the square and told her about his discovery.
After speaking, Lex suggested, "I think we should go to her house and take a look."
Harribel also agreed, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."
Lex cleared his throat: "But I don't know where she lives."
The girl was also stunned, clearly she hadn't considered this question, but she quickly had an idea: "We can ask Old Cook, he knows everything in this Town!"
When the time on the pocket watch reached 11:23, the Lex siblings were in front of a house, which was enclosed by a low stone wall, forming a courtyard filled with moonflowers.
Old Lady Paris's solitary house was behind the flower bushes; it was a dilapidated, gloomy house. A tall oak behind the house, its canopy covering the house, hid it in the shade.
Lex closed his pocket watch and said, "If we move quickly, we should make it back to Town for lunch."
Harribel rolled her eyes: "I can go in by myself."
"I won't leave you here alone." As an older brother, Lex had that much awareness. He walked along the wall towards the back of the house.
Harribel, with hands spread, said from behind, "Aren't we going in?"
"Nobody would sneak into someone's house from the front, my dear sister." Lex said as he walked, "Strange, didn't Old Cook say that Paris kept many cats and dogs? Where did they go?"
Harribel followed behind and said, "Perhaps they are sleeping."
They arrived behind the house, standing in the shade of the huge oak. Lex took a few steps, easily jumped over the wall, and then helped his sister over.
Just then, a gust of wind blew, rustling the leaves. Suddenly, something fell from the tree with a thud, landing at the siblings' feet.
Harribel instantly clapped her hand over her mouth, stifling a gasp and trapping it within her palm.
Lex also drew a sharp breath; it was a corpse, a cat's corpse. The cat's body was abnormally swollen, and dark brown branches protruded from its belly and anus.
Lex walked around to the other side of the cat's corpse and found a section of branch extending from the cat's mouth. It looked as if the cat had been impaled by the branch.
And, the branches were still 'growing' inside the corpse?
"Lex, look up." Harribel raised her head, gazing at the oak, her face pale.
Lex looked up into the tree canopy and saw thick branches growing haphazardly. He saw the corpses of cats and dogs strung on those branches, and his keen vision allowed him to see that young shoots and tender leaves had grown on these corpses.
When the wind blew, the branches swayed, and the corpses of those cats and dogs, like 'fruits' borne by the oak, gently swayed in the wind.
Now, he knew where Paris's cats and dogs had gone.
"How can she live in a place like this? She's not right, she's not right!" Harribel exclaimed softly.
Lex's smile faded, and he turned back, saying seriously, "Bell, stay here. If anything unexpected happens, don't mind me, go back to Town and seek help."
Harribel nodded slightly. She knew very well what she should and shouldn't do.
Lex took out his Snake Scale Pistol from his underarm holster, pointing the muzzle at the ground to prevent accidental discharge. He walked under the canopy of the bizarre oak tree, coming to the back of Paris's house.
He didn't rush in, but listened intently with hearing far superior to ordinary people's, and sniffed the air. After detecting no abnormalities, Lex gently opened a window and slipped inside.